Nest of disposable ash trays



July 22, 1958 Filed Oct. 7, 1955 w. E. JONES NEST 0F DISPOSABLE ASHTRAYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I IN V EN TOR.

WALLACE E. JONES wmww v WW ATTORNEYS July 22, 1958 w. E. ,JONES2,844,247

NEST OF DISPOSABLE ASH TRAYS Filed Oct. 7, 1955 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

WALLACE E. JONES Fl G. 8 74 4 @fi m. QMW

ATTORNEYS NEST F" DISPOSABLE ASH TRAYS WallaceE. J ones,.Rocky River,Ohio Application October 7, 1955', Serial No.539,1 4=

3o Claims. (Cl. 20656) This invention relates to disposable tray forms,and more particularly to a nest of disposable ash trays made up of acontinuous strip of series connected tray forms.

It isan object of this invention to provide a tray nest in the for-mof'a continuous-strip of'series connected tray for-ms adapted" to besuper-folded within one another and readily divisible from the tray nestinto individual trays.

- [tis another object of this invention to provide a continuous stripof-series connected tray forms arranged into a nest and having sli't's'longitudinally spaced on each tray form to allow-* the individual trayforms to be readily detached from the continuous strip.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a nest oftdisposable trays in the formof a continuous strip of series connectedindividual trayforms. constructed of a thin flexible foil, crushable andpreferably having a high heat resistance. 7

It is a further object of this invention toprovide a It is still afurther object of this invention to provide a nest of disposable ashtrays wherein the individual ash tray forms are provided with slits inthe leading edges of the tray forms to allow them to be detached whereinthe slits are arranged in a pattern whereby upon detaching an individualtray from the nest, the topmost tray is provided with an upstandingportion cut out from the detached tray, allowing it to be readilygrasped for detachment from the tray'nest.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawings forming apart of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a nest of disposable ash trays embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the ash tray nest shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an expanded view of a pair of adjacent connected ash trayforms detached from an ash tray nest United States. Patent 0 Fig. 6 isan elevational view of the ash tray form I slit 15 to define aseparation area. '156 are-arranged inthis pattern to provide continuousportions 183 and 19 between the slits 14' and 15' and the 'slitsl i'and16 respectively, whereby'th'e tray forms 11 and are int'erconnectedi Itshould be noted that these 2,844,247. PatentedJuly 22', 1958 The presentinvention is embodied in a disposable ash tray nest 10 made upof acontinuous strip of individual ashtray forms 1'1, 11", etc. arranged tobe superfolded within each other; The ash trayforms 11 and 11' arefurther arranged so as to; be readily detached from-the continuousformswithfia minimum of tensile force.

The individual ash tray forms 11 are constructed in this instance in asubstantially-squaresymmetrical pattern having a conventional ashttrayconfiguration. The article receiving surface 1-2of the ash tray forms 11is arranged in the same square geometric pattern as the ash tray forms11 and is so defined by providing upwardly inclined surfaces extendingfrom the perimeter of the receiving surface I-2to the outer edges of thesquare tray form. Each of the corners of the ash tray' forms 11 arearranged to provide an article receiving and retaining hollbw 1-3 forholdingcigarettes, cigars or the like. The hollows are formed in thesquare areas provided by the folding of the inclined surfaces along theperimeter of the surface 12 and the resulting intersection of thesefold's. The resulting" square pattern is then folded as shown toprovid'e' the hollow 13L 7 The individual tray forms 11 are divisiblefrom one another through the provision ofslits 14', 15 and 16' adjacentthe leading edge of eachof the individual tray forms H The slits 14' and16- extend angularly from the cotnersdefined by a fold 1 7- and theadjacent corner of the squares defining the hollows 13 towards thearcuate The slits 1 4, 15 and portions: 18 and I9 provide theonlyconnection between thetray forms 11 and 11. The fold 17 defines theadjacent edges of the tray forms 11 and 11' as they appear on thecontinuous forms and which fold allows the tray forms 11 and 11 to besuperfolded. The fold 17 extends between the pair of squares definingthe hollows 13 or alternatively from the outer edges of the slits 14 and16.

The slits 14, 15 and 16 are further arranged in this predeterminedpattern whereby upon the detachment of the forms 11 and 11', byconnecting the slits 14, 15 and 16, an upstanding portion 20 is providedfor the lagging tray form 11 so as to be readily grasped and thereby inturn detached from the tray nest 10. The fold 17 may also be providedwith an aperture 21 of a diamond shape or any other suitable geometricpattern, substantially centrally of the fold and divided between theadjacent forms to allow. them to be more readilyfolded and nested withinone another.

It has been found that the ash tray nest 10 may be of highly practicalvalue and of simple construction when it is made up from a continuousstrip of a thin aluminum foil. However, the ash tray nest 10 may beconstructed of any flexible, crushable material that may be compatiblewith the particular use of the tray forms. When the tray forms areutilized as ash trays, for example, it is desirable that the material behighly resistant to heat so as not to burn readily and a metallic foilsatisfies this requirement.

Now referring to the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 through 8, anotherpractical form of the invention will be described. The ash tray forms 23shown in Figs. 5 through 8 are substantially similar to the previouslydescribed embodiment but are arranged to be detached differently. Inthis embodiment, a plurality of slits 25 and 26 are provided at-theleading edges of each tray form 27 and 27 adjacent the longitudinaledges of the continuous strip. The ash tray forms 27 and 27 are foldedwithin one another at the slits 25 and 26 so that a triangle shown indotted outline is formed. The slits 25 and 26 project into the thusformed triangle at the vertex thereof and provide areas 28 and 30whereby the tray forms 27 and 27' are interconnected.

The forms 27 are further arranged and folded so that upon successivedetachment of the forms the areas 28 and 36' are substantially bisected.Each of the corners for the tray form 27 are folded downwardly and upondetachment from the nest the adjacent area on the succeeding form 27' israised so as to provide a projection to allow it to be readily graspedfor detachment.

In this particular embodiment the ash tray forms 27 and 27 are in asubstantially rectangular pattern and have their connected edgesapertured between the slits 25 and 26' as shown in Fig. 7. Theseapertured edges are further provided with a plurality of articleretaining areas 31 and 32. The article receiving surface 33 may alsohave the same general configuration as the tray form 27 or any otherconvenient configuration.

In the accompanying drawings and the foregoing detailed description itwill now be readily understood that this invention provides a disposableash tray nest which may be used as a nest and upon filling up thetopmost ash tray form, the tray may be readily detached from the nestand crushed around the ashes, cigarette butts and the like retainedwithin the ash tray and the entire package conveniently disposed of.Also, although the invention has been described in conjunction with adisposable ash tray nest it should be readily apparent that the nest 7tailed extent it will be understood, of course, that the in- 3 ventionis not to be regarded as being limited correspondingly in scope butincludes all changes and modifications coming within the terms of theclaims hereofi.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A nest of disposable tray forms comprising, a continuous strip offoil material having a series of individual tray forms formed therein inside-by-side integrally connected relationship, evenly spaced transversefold lines formed in said continuous foil strip adjacent the connectedboundaries of said series of individual tray forms, each of saidindividual tray forms comprising a flat central bottom portion with awall extending from the perimeter thereof for forming a central articlereceiving and retaining holiow, the central hollows of said individualtray forms alternately opening toward opposite sides of said continuousfoil strip, said continuous foil strip being folded in accordion fashionback upon itself along said fold lines with said individual trays innested relationforms, and the continuous foil strip portion between theset of slits and fold line of each tray form defines a tab which iseasily accessible for hand gripping purposes.

3. A nest of disposable tray forms as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidtray forms are ash trays, and said wall of each of said tray forms isfolded to provide identical V-shaped portions disposed to nest with theidentical V-shaped portions of an adjacent tray form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS403,113 Keller May 14, 1889 7 2,214,525 Murguiondo Sept. 10, 19402,705,962 Welke Apr. 12, 1955

